Barclays Bank of Kenya’s Timiza App Offers Mobile Savings, Loans, Insurance, Bill Payment
Barclays Bank of Kenya recently rolled out Timiza, an app for Android mobile phones that offers mobile banking services via M-Pesa, a mobile money service launched in 2007 by Kenyan internet service provider Safaricom. Timiza accounts are available to individuals as well as groups. To be eligible, one must have a six-month history with M-Pesa. Timiza offers accident and funeral insurance of KES 100,000 (USD 10,000) for a premium of KES 42 (USD 0.42) per month. Users may also pay bills and purchase mobile airtime through the app.
Timiza offers term and target (automatic periodic transfer) savings accounts for terms of 30 days or more, paying annualized interest of 7 percent. The minimum amount for a term deposit account is KES 1,000 (USD 10). The minimum goal for a target savings account is KES 500 (USD 5), with a minimum periodic deposit amount of KES 50 (USD 0.50). Timiza allows balances of up to KES 250,000 (USD 2,500) with a possible extension up to a total of KES 1 million (USD 10,000) dependent on the submission of additional documentation.
Timiza loans have terms of 30 days and fees and interest totaling 6.17 percent. Depending on the user’s credit history, the loan size may vary from KES 50 (USD 0.50) to KES 1 million (USD 10,000). Those not deemed eligible for a loan may become eligible over time by using the other features of Timiza.
Barclays Bank of Kenya is a member of Barclays Africa Group, which is in the process of changing its name to Absa Group. The group is 15-percent owned by Barclays PLC, a UK-based banking group that brought in GBP 21 billion (USD 30 billion) in total income during 2017 from operations in 40 countries.
M-Pesa, which was developed by UK-based Vodafone, serves 29 million people in 10 countries as of 2016.
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